Thursday, April 24, 2008

This quote from Anne Bares at Compensation Force sheds light on something important to remember when coming up with new employee recognition ideas - it doesn’t matter what you think is a great gift, give employees what they would most appreciate.

In one of our past posts, we mentioned that younger Gen Y employees would much rather have a gift card to their favorite store or a pair of movie tickets over a shiny silver “You’re #1” award pin.

An unfitting employee recognition award can actually have a negative outcome. A boss may think they’re giving a wonderful gift to an employee, but that same employee thinks the gift is old fashioned and that their boss doesn’t care.

Recognition needs to be tailored to the employee who is receiving it. Don’t assume someone will like a gift based on what you think is nice. The solution is simple - just ask your employees what they would most like to get.

Bares shares a great lesson:

Recognition can be a powerful and effective tool, particularly given its ability to accomplish a lot on a relatively small budget. But recognition plans can have extraordinarily limited shelf lives. You have to keep 'em fresh and keep 'em real, and you have to watch carefully for signs that they are fraying around the edges.

So keep it fresh, keep it real and keep on showing employees they're appreciated.

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There is probably nothing more essential...and more elusive....than great training for employees. For every type of position or company, there are dozens of different opinions on what employees need to know. But amid all the differing voices, there are a few constants: well trained employees work better, have a higher level of company loyalty and produce a better product or service.
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